LGFA Division 4 League

posted 4 Apr 2017, 13:15 by Athlone GAA

Athlone 3-10 Loughnavalley 1-8

Athlone produced a solid display to claim their second win of the Westmeath LGFA Division 4 League when they defeated Loughnavalley by 3-10 to 1-8 on Sunday. This was a much anticipated fixture between two teams who have built up a close rivalry over the last few years and the match itself produced some great football in perfect conditions on the Davy Allen pitch.

After an evenly matched opening period, Eimear O’Rourke and Siobhan Coleman took hold of the midfield with good support from Brionna Geoghegan and the half-back line of Alannah Reynolds, Lil Stuart Trainor and Kasey O’Neill. The full-back line of Lauren O’Connor, Katie Henshaw and Caoimhe Mannion, along with goalkeeper Aoife Temple were excellent in restricting the visitors' scoring opportunities, while up front the forwards worked well together to create several chances, with Niamh Byrne, Grace Halligan, Siobhan Coleman, Nadia Molloy, Cathy McGettigan, Lil Stuart Trainor and Emily Henshaw all getting some some excellent scores . Probably the best two scores of the game came from corner-back Caoimhe Mannion whose surging runs forward from corner-back, allied with some neat hand passing with the forwards along the way, led to two fine points.

The running game was a feature of Athlone’s display and their tenacity was rewarded particularly in the second half when they dominated the exchanges in every position. Emma Carey‘s persistence and the addition of Emma Johnson, Sorcha O'Rourke and the hard working Chloe Moran alongside the tenacious Shauna Moylan gave Athlone the added freshness they needed to see out a very disciplined and clinical display. Indeed, the excellent attendances that Athlone have been having at training under the new management team were reflected in the large panel who turned out on the day and the coaches had plenty of options to bring in from the bench, which augurs well for the rest of the games in the campaign. Overall this was an excellent display from Athlone and they fully deserved their second win of the campaign.

Next up in the league is away match versus Milltownpass next Sunday, April 9th, at 12pm.